Meet Pair of Violets: The Queer Wedding Dream Team Helping Make The First Mass Wedding In New Orleans Possible

Bee and Lydia Hopewell, owners of Pair of Violets in New Orleans, LA

Dearly Beloved Dance Party isn’t just an event. It’s a statement, a celebration, and a space deliberately built for queer joy. Every detail is chosen with intention. Every vendor is selected because their values reflect the world we’re trying to create. And if there’s one vendor who embodies that spirit completely, it’s Pair of Violets.

Before we even had the chance to reach out, Lydia (she/they) and Bee (she/her) Hopewell contacted us to say, simply, “We want to be involved.” Not in a vague, corporate-sponsorship kind of way, but with real enthusiasm, genuine care, and a desire to support the purpose and politics of Dearly Beloved. As they put it: “We got so excited when we heard about Dearly Beloved Dance Party that we had to reach out to see how we could get involved!” From that first moment, we knew we’d found the kind of collaborators who don’t just help make an event happen; they help shape its meaning.

Pair of Violets is built on a foundation of radical intentionality, rooted in their own lived experience. Their wedding planning journey began with a double proposal, a quickly booked venue, and then — suddenly — a national threat to marriage equality. In 2020, when Justices Thomas and Alito publicly stated their intent to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, it shook them to their core. As Lydia and Bee shared with us:

“We were freshly engaged in 2020 when the Supreme Court first released an opinion… stating their intent to overturn Obergefell. That opinion struck fear and anxiety into our hearts, and after many conversations and conferring with family and a lawyer, we concluded that the best course of action was to get legally married as soon as possible… to ensure our right to marry in Louisiana would be protected. We planned a small ceremony in a month and got married in political protest with 15 of our closest friends and family.”

They wore black; their guests wore bright colors. Everyone wore progress pride pins. Their officiant — their best friend — wore a rainbow stole and quoted directly from the Obergefell decision. It was a protest, a promise, and a wedding all at once.

A year later, they held the larger celebration they had originally planned, surrounded by a hundred people they loved. Those two weddings weren’t just personal milestones — they were turning points that clarified what mattered: community, chosen family, value-driven decision-making, and the right to celebrate love on their own terms.

When they coordinated their friend Joy’s wedding shortly thereafter, something clicked. They realized that helping people create intentional, values-centered celebrations wasn’t just something they were good at — it was their calling.

That calling is the backbone of Pair of Violets.

They understand the emotional weight of weddings, especially for queer folks navigating traditions that haven’t always welcomed us or reflected our lived realities. They approach every couple with empathy, advocacy, and a commitment to building celebrations that feel true rather than traditional. Their ethics are not a tagline; they are a practice: uplifting marginalized identities, committing to anti-racist work, supporting liberation in all its forms, and choosing intention over expectation every single time.

Their political awareness is not incidental — it’s inseparable from the work they do. And in 2025, that awareness feels especially sharp. As they told us:

“In 2025, it feels like déjà vu all over again… Once again, the question of whether same-sex marriage is a federally-enshrined right took another turn in front of SCOTUS… Moreover, trans rights are under attack at the local, state, and federal level, affecting the most vulnerable in our community. We are facing a hostile political environment… The Dearly Beloved Dance Party is a desperately-needed light in a time of darkness — a focus on pure joy by, for, and with our community, to celebrate the fact that we are here, we are queer, and we are not going anywhere.”

This is exactly why working with them on Dearly Beloved has felt so profound. Lydia and Bee have been steady, thoughtful partners — offering support before we even knew we needed it, helping us navigate logistics and intention in equal measure, and showing up with the kind of care that makes all the difference. Dearly Beloved is a massive, ambitious, heartfelt undertaking, and we can say without hesitation that we could not pull this off without them.

In a landscape where queer events are often underfunded, undervalued, or treated as novelties, having vendors who actually understand the stakes matters. Pair of Violets brings both professional expertise and lived experience. They know what it means to build a wedding day that reflects who you are, not who someone else expects you to be.

This is the exact energy we want behind Dearly Beloved. This is the kind of partnership that makes the event not just possible, but deeply meaningful.

If you’re a nearlywed looking for a planner or coordinator who will honor your story, advocate for your needs, and build a celebration rooted in your values, we cannot recommend Pair of Violets enough. You can find them at pairofviolets.com or on Instagram at @pairofviolets.

We’re grateful to have them as one of our top sponsors — and even more grateful to have them in our community.